Rants on Cycling and on Life:
Photos of people and bicycles that pass in front of my camera

2.26.2009

pleasant way to start the morning...

my commute is shortthe ride is not long enough to constitute a work outyes... there is the notion that life is cumulativebut it is more a matter that the bicycle is the vehicle that makes the most sensemy commute is easily a non cyclist's bike rideno... it is not so much about being greennor is it the effort to be healthier or fitterit is just that the bicycle makes sense

not sure why more people do not see this realitythe bicycle is already part of my life so perhaps it is easier for me to read the writing on the wall

there are advantages to travel by bikethe world is a different place to those of us on bike than to those locked within their cageswe interact with the world around usand we often get a chance to interact with otherswe also find things... dropped things... cool thingsbut more often then finding something cool you have the opportunity to make contact with someone

in a car a person may see an old friend or a familiar face then email them about it lateron the bike personal contact can be madein the car a person may see another and yearn to make contactwhile on the bike there are less barriersthere is a greater opportunity to make contactthat person running, that friend headed to the Metro, or those friends having drinks on the sidewalk cafein the car so much of that goes on unnoticed

being on the bike connects me with the citythe bike connects me to the streets, the buildings, and the peoplethe camera can start the conversationsometimes I just start the conversation anywayI am curious about peopleespecially people on bikes

earlier this week I encountered a young woman on a fixed gearI am not sure about other people who ride bikes but I look at anyone and everyone on bikeeven before the whole BLOG/PHOTO thing I looked at each passing bike and its riderI look at what they are riding and how they are riding itover time I will see the same people around townover the years I watch strangers grown and change or at least change bikesI often fill in the blank of who they are and what they are doingI am usually wrongnever even so close as to guestimate the sound of their voice

so the other morning when I was rolling down Mount Pleasant Street on my way into work I watched this young woman on her fixed gear

I tried to get an idea of how she would approach the variables in front of herI tried to make sure that my trajectory did not intersect with hersmy path was towards the center line while she was riding more towards the right side of the roadas we approached a light turning yellow it was clear I would not make it before it turned red so I began to coastthe Metro bus ahead of us pivoted to the right taking up the center lane and the parking lane as it picked up passengersthis young woman on the fixie accelerated towards the center lane around the bus rather than slowing down or getting pinned in between the side of the bus, the curb, and the people trying to get on the busthe rider on the fixie stopped at the red light and the impassable morning rush hour traffic coming up the Irving Street Speedway

I stopped along side of her and offered a morning greetingshe must be from out of town because she did not spray me with mace nor did she make a faceshe must be from out of town because she responded back with a good morning and a smilethe light turned green and we progressed furtherour morning hello moved naturally into conversationa short exchange about this and thatbefore I went right down Columbia she made mention that my Surly Karate Monkey was "a nice build"her word usage sounded so "bike"although I am not sure if I had heard the collection of words that form the concept of "a nice build"but I did know that this statement revealed that she knew a thing or two about bikeswell... the comfort on the fixie and the observation of the bike and the use of the words "a nice build"the Surly is not a bike out of a box and the Karate Monkey is a frame that can accept a variety of incarnationsthe Karate Monkey can go gears, single, or fixedthe Karate Monkey is as much a utilitarian city bike as it is a bike for the woodsthe frame is wide enough for the 29er Knobbieswhich of course would allow any 700c variety

the camera was in my pocket but I did not snap a shotthere was time to pull the camera from my pocketinstead I just let it rollour direction or our pace broke the conversationwhich was finemy focus was really just getting across town so I can get to workanything else is just a sidebar

then days later... this morning in fact...I was traveling the same route and roughly the same time of day when I rolled up behind that same familiar form only it was not so familiar... this time she was not on her fixie... she was on a Surly Cross Check with drop bars and bar con shiftersah... she is familiar with the Surlythe bike that is not so much a built bike from a shopbut a bike that is built through the purchase of a frame and various partsparts by the selection of the buyer

Surly is a poor man's custom bikethe bikes have a solid reputation for being bullet proofI have only owned the Monkey but I have heard flattering reviews of any and all other frames by Surly that people have bought with the QBP Catalog

enough on the Surly... back to my random rant from the morning ridefunny... typing this is taking longer than the whole encounterwith all the times I have been pulled away to cook for my kids or play another hand in Scrabble on Facebookwhere was I?oh...

so almost immediately I recognize her and I guess she recognizes meI am not quite stealth and well... I have an okay memory for certain thingsthere was a greeting where I made mention of her bike that dayI felt that she had misrepresented herselfjust when you think you know someone... I had drawn this mental picture of this person on a fixed gear and now I see her pushing gears

then she alerted me that I was also on a different bikeI had not noticed that I was on a different bike on this day as well

she was not on her fixie and I was not on my single speedwe were both pushing gears

our path continued the same direction for pretty much for the same short durationas again it is morningthere is not always time to slow for more than a hellofocus needs to be on the task at hand... getting to work... and getting to work on time

again I had the camera... again I did not take a photographmy guess is I will see her againI will get more of the story and maybe even a picture

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